No. 9 West Virginia (36-13, 20-9) lost game two to Texas Christian University, 4-0, on Friday at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Read more: TCU shuts down WVU’s offense, Mountaineers lose 4-0.
Despite more than seven strong innings from Maxx Yehl, West Virginia mustered just three total hits, all being singles. TCU’s starting pitcher, Lance Davis, pitched an absolute masterclass, shutting down the hot Mountaineer bats. He finished with six strikeouts and just one walk through nine complete innings.
TCU gets on the board early
Yehl worked around a leadoff hit batter to escape the first inning unscathed, finishing the frame by retiring the next three batters in order.
TCU’s Davis began his 14th start of the season with a quick 1-2-3 inning. The freshman managed to get Gavin Kelly to hit into a double on the first pitch of the at-bat.
Preston Gamster put the TCU Horned Frogs on the board at the top of the second inning with a leadoff home run. The solo shot marked the first home run allowed by Yehl in his last five games.
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After recording a strikeout, Yehl surrendered his second home run of the inning to Kyuss Gargett.
Davis once again took care of the Mountaineers in order in the bottom of the second.
Yehl bounced back from the previous inning by striking out two TCU batters, raising his total to six through the first three innings.
Davis continues to deal
WVU managed to get two runners on via a single from Ben Lumsden and Matt Ineich getting hit by a pitch, but Davis worked around it to post another zero in the third.
With his pitch count quickly rising, Yehl worked a much-needed 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. The southpaw also recorded his seventh strikeout of the night.
Davis continued his efficient start with just one base runner in the bottom half of the inning. Through the first four innings, the young starter totaled just 58 pitches, including 38 strikes.
Yehl and Davis pitched a pair of scoreless frames in the fifth inning.
In the sixth, Yehl tossed another hitless frame and added two more strikeouts. That jumped his total up to nine.
WVU managed to get a two-out hit off Davis in the bottom half of the sixth, but couldn’t do anything with it. Davis immediately recorded the final out on the next batter with a groundout.
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After Yehl recorded two quick outs in the seventh, JT Huether replaced him after Yehl gave up an infield single. He left with 116 total pitches, with 77 of them being strikes.
Huether recorded a swinging strikeout in his first at-bat of the night.
As for Davis, he continued to dominate through the seventh inning, retiring the side in order again.
TCU closes it out
Dawson Montesa came in for relief in the eighth, and after striking out the first two batters, Noah Franco hit the third home run of the game for the Horned Frogs.
After the home run, Nolan Traeger scored off a wild pitch from Montesa. Traeger reached third after a dropped third strike and a throwing error from Kelly.
Joshua Surigao replaced Montesa and recorded the final out of the eighth inning after catching Cole Eaton in a rundown while attempting to steal second base.
Davis stayed in for the eighth and recorded another clean frame.
After Surigao pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, Davis finished the bottom of the ninth, completing his shutout outing over the Mountaineers.
What’s next
WVU and TCU will play the final game of this weekend series at 12 p.m on Saturday. Tomorrow’s matchup will also be the final game of the regular season for both teams.
Chansen Cole is expected to make the start for the Mountaineers. He will look to improve on his already stellar numbers, currently sitting with an 8-1 record with a 2.71 ERA.
Zack James will likely make the start for the Horned Frogs. He also has had a strong regular season, currently boasting a 6-0 record with a 3.49 ERA.
TCU will also likely be without one of its top hitters, Jack Bell, for a second straight game. Bell, who ranks third on the team with a .301 batting average, suffered a hernia-related injury during Friday’s pregame batting practice, according to head coach Kirk Saarloos.
